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Pandemic "Just As Focused" On Their Own Visions

The news that EA was acquiring BioWare and Pandemic came as a bit of a shock to gamers, although maybe not to industry analysts. Now, the buzz around the Internet seems to focus on whether or not the two talented developers can maintain all their own ideas and concepts while entrenched in their new partnership.

It's a legitimate concern, to be sure. But during a recent interview with GamePro, that was a point-blank question, given to Pandemic's Josh Resnick- "concerning the EA deal, what do you say to allay the fears of BioWare and Pandemic fans who might worry that you'll become somehow homogenized by joining EA?" His reply should encourage everyone:

"Over my dead body. [laughter] At the end of the day, we are just as focused, if not more so, on creating amazing games that our fans will go nuts over. We have such amazing games in the pipeline right now, and EA is so enthusiastic over them - that's one of the reasons we've joined them. EA's mantra has been 'look guys, we're going to stand out of the way... you guys continue to do what you know how to do. We're here to support you.'"

That's exactly what we want to hear. Provided EA doesn't want to take over the reigns and order Pandemic (and/or BioWare) to work on certain projects in a certain way, we're happy. We've no doubt that EA is a fantastic publishing partner, and it's good to know Pandemic will simply continue on their own charted course. EA can play the "go-fer" role ("go for" this, "go for" that), and everyone should benefit in the long run.